Nato ‘working on’ providing anti-ship missiles to Ukraine, US says

It comes amid concerns that Russia will launch amphibious assaults along the Black Sea coast

Nato is “working on” providing anti-ship missiles to Ukraine, a US official has said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for countries in the alliance to give 1% of its tanks and aircraft to help boost the war effort against invading Russia.

Speaking at the Nato summit in Brussels on Thursday, the senior US official said: “We have started consulting with allies on providing anti-ship missiles to Ukraine.”

He said that while there “may be some technical challenges,” it is something that the US is “consulting with allies and starting to work on.”

The discussions came amid concerns that Russia will launch amphibious assaults along the Black Sea coast.

The Ukrainian president joined Nato leaders via videolink but did not repeat requests for Nato membership or the establishment of a no-fly zone, the official said.

Mr Zelenskky called for “military assistance without limitations” as Russia is “without limits using its entire arsenal”. He specifically asked for anti-air and anti-ship weapons.

“It has been a month of defending ourselves from attempts to destroy us, wipe us off the face of the earth,” he said.

Mr Zelensky asked Nato for ‘military assistance without limitations’ (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office)

US President Joe Biden mentioned the assistance as he spoke to Nato allies about its effort to support Ukraine.

“We are committed to identifying additional equipment, including air defence systems, to help Ukraine,” Mr Biden said after the Nato meeting.

Nato leaders gathered to discuss their efforts to support Ukraine (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The announcement came hours after Ukraine’s Navy announced that the Russian landing ship Orsk had been destroyed in Berdyansk.

The Ukrainian military confirmed the casualty and said that “there will be more,” but it did not provide details about the cause.

A Russian landing ship was destroyed in Berdyansk (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Britain agreed to provide anti-ship missiles to Ukraine in February, Ukraine’s Envoy to Britain Vadim Pristayko said at the time.

“For the first time, our armed forces, the Navy in particular, will receive real weapons, missiles that will finally enable us to have something against the Russians in the Black and Azov Seas,” he said in a radio interview.

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Additional reporting by Reuters